A Qatari investor accused of targeting top Trump aides in a bribery plot has ‘fled’ the country amid claims that he is dodging being deposed in a $1.2 billion court claim, Dailymail.com can reveal.
Ahmed Al-Rumaihi is accused in a court filing of leaving the United States to give himself a ‘leg-up’ in a bitter dispute which puts him against his former business partner Ice Cube and the rapper’s BIG3 basketball league.
Al-Rumaihi was also said to have been asked for cash for ‘Trump family members’ by Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s embattled attorney.
DailyMail.com can also reveal that Al-Rumaihi had built a relationship with John McCain, and was living a life of luxury in the United States.
Qatari investor Ahmed Al-Rumaihi, pictured above with John McCain, has ‘fled’ the country amid claims that he is dodging being deposed in a $1.2 billion court claim
Ahmed Al-Rumaihi is accused in a court filing of leaving the United States to give himself a ‘leg-up’ in a bitter dispute which puts him against his former business partner Ice Cube and the rapper’s BIG3 basketball league
A court ordered last week that Al-Rumaihi would be deposed in Los Angeles at a later time this year
The court ordered that Al-Rumaihi’s deposition would last no more than three hours but would question him on ‘motives, intent, knowledge, participation of, the publication of alleged false and defamatory statements’
He shared a photograph with his friends showing him posing with the Arizona senator, who is battling a devastating form of brain cancer and offering him his ‘thoughts and prayers’.
Al-Rumaihi is being sued for $1.2billion by Ice Cube and businessman Jeff Kwatinetz who claim that he promised to invest in their basketball league then reneged on his commitments.
According to a new filing obtained by DailyMail.com, the Qatari left the US to give himself a ‘leg-up’ in the case.
‘Counsel’s chief reason for refusing to allow Mr. Al-Rumaihi’s deposition is that he is out of the country, in Qatar,’ said lawyers for Ice Cube and Kwatinetz.
‘In other words, with knowledge that Plaintiff’s need and would be seeing his deposition, Mr. Al-Rumaihi fled the country.’
The filing states that it had been established in previous court papers that Al-Rumaihi had resided in Los Angeles.
DailyMail.com can reveal the extent of the luxury living arrangements that saw Al-Rumaihi planning to lay down more permanent roots in the United States.
The businessman recently bought a three-bedroom $2.7million townhouse on trendy Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice, California, where he and his girlfriend had planned to move long term prior to being hit with the lawsuit.
In text messages submitted to the court from his girlfriend to a female friend, the girlfriend, named Helga, said she and Al-Rumaihi would be moving to Venice following his ‘oral surgery’.
Al-Rumaihi recently bought a three-bedroom $2.7million townhouse (pictured) in Venice, California, where he and his girlfriend had planned to move long term prior to being hit with the lawsuit
In text messages submitted to the court from his girlfriend to a female friend, the girlfriend, named Helga, said she and Al-Rumaihi would be moving to Venice following his ‘oral surgery’. In another message she said that soon they’d ‘take over Venice’
The Venice home is on the trendy Abbot Kinney Boulevard. It features an open-concept floor plan with the kitchen opening into a living room
Despite the Venice home, Al-Rumaihi has always maintained he is a resident of Qatar and was only conducting business in the US
A bedroom in the Venice, California, home has views of the city with a balcony overlooking the surrounding area
‘All good, Ahmed is having oral surgery today, so he’ll be knocked out. If all goes well we’re moving to a Abbot Kinney in the weekend (smiley face emoji),’ read one text.
While another message read: ‘Our puppy is coming soon as well, so we’ll take over Venice (laughing emoji).’
But prior to the Venice move Al-Rumaihi – who has always maintained he is a resident of Qatar and was only conducting business in the US – had rented an $18million, five-bedroom Beverly Hills home.
On the exclusive Martin Lane, the mansion boasts soaring 12-foot ceilings, 7,000 square feet of living space and panoramic views across LA and down to the ocean.
With rent at around $80,000 a month, the living expenses of the former diplomat are not for the faint-hearted.
But while Al-Rumaihi, according to court documents, enjoyed throwing lavish parties at the impressive property and taking trips to St Tropez, Ibiza and Las Vegas, where it’s alleged he single-handedly blew $700,000 in cash gambling in the space of a few hours, he also enjoyed traveling to New York.
The lawsuit also alleges Al-Rumaihi ‘frequently boasted of his friendship to Senator John McCain’ and even claimed it was his visits to the ailing politician that prevented him from finalizing payment of the money he owed to BIG3.
In a photo Al-Rumaihi’s shared with friend on his Instagram page and obtained by DailyMail.com the businessman poses next to a relaxed and smiling McCain in an image posted in July 2017.
But prior to the Venice move Al-Rumaihi had rented an $18million, five-bedroom Beverly Hills home, pictured above
On the exclusive Martin Lane, the mansion boasts soaring 12-foot ceilings, 7,000 square feet of living space and panoramic views across LA and down to the ocean
With rent at around $80,000 a month, the living expenses of the former diplomat are not for the faint-hearted
Al-Rumaihi, according to court documents, enjoyed throwing lavish parties at the impressive property. the home’s back patio and pool are pictured above
It is unclear when or where it was taken but it was that month that McCain announced he was fighting primary glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer.
A friendship with McCain is hardly the Qatari’s only political link.
Last week video emerged of the Qatari entering Trump Tower on December 12, 2016, alongside Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and Michael Flynn, the disgraced ex-national security adviser who quit just a month into Trump’s presidency.
The video came following DailyMail.com’s revelation that Al-Rumaihi – then in charge of a $100billion Qatari investment fund – was accused in court documents of boasting about bribing Flynn, and attempting to bribe Trump’s former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon. He denies the claims.
Last week DailyMail.com revealed that President Trump’s attorney Cohen is facing claims he personally asked Al-Rumaihi for millions of dollars to give to ‘Trump family members’ in a meeting at Trump Tower weeks after the president’s election victory.
A source told DailyMail.com that the Qatari said he refused.
Following the wave of allegations Al-Rumaihi issued a statement saying he was in Trump Tower to ‘meet Trump transition officials’ but denied meeting Flynn.
A representative for Al-Rumaihi’s company Sports Trinity said they had ‘no comment’ on the alleged Cohen bribe offer.
Last week video emerged of the Qatari entering Trump Tower on December 12, 2016, alongside Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and Michael Flynn, the disgraced ex-national security adviser who quit just a month into Trump’s presidency
The gathering had come under intense scrutiny when Stormy Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti tweeted pictures and a link to the video.
After posting the pictures, Avenatti tweeted: ‘Why was Ahmed Al-Rumaihi meeting with Michael Cohen and Michael Flynn in December 2016 and why did Mr. Al-Rumaihi later brag about bribing administration officials according to a sworn declaration filed in court?’
The lawsuit also alleges Al-Rumaihi ‘frequently boasted of his friendship to Senator John McCain’
And as more details emerge about the meeting, DailyMail.com has discovered yet more intrigue surrounding Qatari links with the Trump administration.
One glaring fact is that Washington powerhouse law firm Jones Day, which represents Al-Rumaihi and other Qataris in the BIG3 case, has strong ties with Trump’s government.
Dozens of former attorneys with Jones Day work in the Trump administration and the company has been dubbed ‘Trump’s favorite law firm’ in an article by financial media giant Bloomberg in March.
As well as Al-Rumaihi Jones Day is representing Qatari businessman Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud al Thani, the CEO of the Qatari Investment Authority and two other men linked to the Qatari royal family.
The law firm is defending the $1.2billion BIG3 lawsuit recently filed by rapper Ice Cube and businessman Jeff Kwatinetz who claim that Al-Rumaihi, an investor in their BIG3 basketball league, failed to follow through on promises to invest millions of dollars in the league.
According to Bloomberg, as of March this year, 14 Jones Day attorneys had joined the Trump team, which it described as unprecedented.
Donald McGahn, the White House counsel and a former Jones Day partner, has hired at least half a dozen attorneys from the firm to work alongside him advising the president on ethics, executive orders, and judicial nominations.
Ahmed Al-Rumaihi was at a BIG3 basketball fixture in Dallas, Texas, at the time it is alleged he was trying to use the venture to make contact with Steve Bannon Read
Ice Cube (center) and Jeff Kwatinetz (right) set up BIG3 and have Clyde Drexler as Commissioner along with other Hall of Famers involved. Kwatinetz worked for two years with Bannon and still considers him a friend despite differing political views
Bloomberg claims McGahn is the main link between Jones Day and the Trump administration and has represented Trump since 2015 during his unlikely candidacy.
Jones Day took out an ad touting itself as the law firm that knows a lot about the Trump administration.
The internet ad calls out their ‘Insights on the New Administration,’ listing issues it has expertise on such as ‘energy & environment,’ ‘financial regulation,’ ‘government contracts,’ and ‘health care / ACA’.
Jones Day has more than 2,500 attorneys in 44 offices around the world with a revenue of $1.94billion in 2015.
On Tuesday last week Al-Rumaihi broke his silence to CNN in a statement.
‘Mr. Al-Rumaihi was at Trump Tower on December 12, 2016,’ a spokesperson for Sport Trinity, Al-Rumahi’s sports company which is involved in the BIG3 litigation, said.
‘He was there in his then role as head of Qatar Investments, an internal division of QIA, to accompany the Qatari delegation that was meeting with Trump transition officials on that date.
‘He did not participate in any meetings with Michael Flynn, and his involvement in the meetings on that date was limited.’